HARMONY — Food, games, contests, music, and just a little spookiness will invade downtown Harmony at the second annual Sleepy Hollow Festival.

Taking place Saturday and Sunday in and around the main square of Harmony, the festival promises something for everyone.

Festival coordinator M.J. McCurdy said the event will kick off Saturday morning with a breakfast served from 8 to 11 a.m. at the Stohr Haus Bakery.

Saturday morning activities will include a flea market from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Harmony Museum’s Stewart Hall, which will include a soup sale from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Activities scheduled from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. include a trick or treat for kids and pets, as well as chalk art at the Bottlebrush Gallery.

The Bottlebrush Gallery will also hold voting for the scarecrow decorating contest, which will see resident-decorated scarecrows hanging around in the downtown area.

A variety of vendors, including crafts, food and games, will be set up throughout the festival beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday. Revelers can also pick a pumpkin from a fake tree, participate in a pumpkin carving and decorating contest or enjoy a photo booth and popcorn at The Exchange at Harmony.

Various family entertainment will be available Saturday, including live music by Harmony Road at 1 p.m., a demonstration by Cranberry Dance at 2:30 p.m. and a children’s show and kazoo concert at 4 p.m.

Other Saturday afternoon activities include sheep petting, an apple cider demonstration, a pizza-eating contest, cookie decorating, a bake sale and pirate hat decorating,

From 4 to 7 p.m., a DJ will provide music for dancing, and parade will be at 6:15 p.m.

A Halloween costume contest will be judged at 6 p.m. in the town square, and prizes will be awarded for best adult, child and pet costume.

A concert featuring the popular band Ploughshare Poets will be from 7 to 10 p.m. at Bottlebrush Gallery.

An acoustic concert by the band Auricle will be at 9 p.m.

From 5 to 8 p.m., a children’s scavenger hunt will be held throughout the downtown area. Completed treasure maps can be redeemed for hot chocolate at Wunderbar.

Things will turn spooky from 4 to 10 p.m. Saturday night, when Steel Town Paranormal will hold An Evening in Haunted Harmony at the Harmony Museum. That venue, Christopher Durish of Steel Town Paranormal said, was the source of a spine-tingling experience for his wife, Melanie, during a past paranormal investigation.

Melanie Durish smelled flowery perfume and felt as if she were not alone while investigating the museum’s Christmas Room, the site of many paranormal accounts.

“She said it just felt weird, and she felt tingling and sensed something was behind her,” Durish said.

He said at the exact time his wife felt the presence, a meter believed to detect ghost energy went off in an area of the museum where people have reported seeing apparitions.

The Durishes and their investigators did not notice the two events coincided until they later reviewed camera footage from the investigation.

“That was the only hard evidence we’ve gotten in Harmony,” Durish said.

An Evening in Haunted Harmony will also include paranormal and metaphysical vendors, psychic readings and historical/ghost walking tours. Speakers will include paranormal-themed television personalities.

The historical/ghost walks will begin at 7, 8 and 9 p.m. at the museum. Guides will lead the groups as they walk the town, hearing spooky stories about the many historical buildings in the borough.

More information is available at www.harmonymuseum.org.

A paranormal investigation led by Steel Town Paranormal will be between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. in several historical buildings. That activity is sold out.

The festival will wind down Sunday, when a number of musical acts will appear during the afternoon at Bottlebrush Gallery. Vendors will be on hand Sunday as well.

There is no admission fee for the festival, which is sponsored by the Harmony Business Association.

Any proceeds from games, contests or other festival activities will benefit the Art Matters program at Bottlebrush Gallery. The program funds art activities for disadvantaged youths in Butler County.

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